Zenn Diagram: A Review

Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there’s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them — from clothes to textbooks to cell phones — she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read a person’s fears and anxieties, their secrets and loves … and what they have yet to learn about calculus. This is helpful for her work as a math tutor, but it means she can never get close to people. Eva avoids touching anyone and everyone. People think it’s because she’s a clean freak — with the emphasis on freak — but it’s all she can do to protect herself from other people’s issues. Then one day a new student walks into Eva’s life. His jacket gives off so much emotional trauma that she falls to the floor. Eva is instantly drawn to Zenn, a handsome and soulful artist who also has a troubled home life, and her feelings only grow when she realizes that she can touch Zenn’s skin without having visions. But when she discovers the history that links them, the truth threatens to tear the two apart. Zenn Diagram, Wendy Brant’s sparkling debut novel, offers an irresistible combination of math and romance, with just a hint of the paranormal. Readers will swoon over Zenn and connect instantly with Eva, the most fully drawn prodigy in teen fiction today.

Musings:

Cute, adorable, and completely nerdy this book was such a lovely magical realism contemporary that made my heart feel warm inside. Eva sees fractals whenever her hands make contact with anyone or anything that has any attachment to a person emotionally. This makes for some interesting situations as Eva tiptoes around people and gets thought of as a major germaphobe.

In comes Zenn who is both your typical bad boy, but also not bad at all. He is respectable, hardworking, kind (especially to Eva’s adorable siblings) and is one hell of an artist. It turns out that Eva and Zenn stir up a connection that because of dramatic circumstance may either keep them tethered together or hurl them further apart.

There is so much beauty in this book that comes along with the fractals.

Here is what one looks like:

They are infinite patterns that continue on and on and they are all so complex but in a mathematical sort of way simple. I love that that’s how Eva learns about others with her gift, because the artistic nature of it makes me want to bask in just the thought of it.

In a way it perfectly describes the relationship between Eva and Zenn, hopelessly complex yet gorgeous in simplicity. It also reminds me that love at its core is simple, but as things collide and add on to it the complexity can be overwhelming and what once was love could shift to grow stronger or to fracture apart.

I love how imperative family was in this novel. Both on Eva’s and Zenn’s end. Eva’s parents do their best to be as involved in Eva’s life as they possibly can and a lot of Zenn’s actions and beliefs as a character are due to how he had to grow up and survive without a dad and with a mom who doesn’t really know how to be a mom.

This novel was beautifully done. It surprised me how delighted I was to read it. It filled me with a happiness that I will fondly keep in my heart.

Thanks for reading! Today is Day 1 of the Book a day challenge and I finished Zenn Diagram for today. I was already half-way through it, but with having to work for 8 hours and doing my best in all other regards I call this a win. Let me know your thoughts on Zenn Diagram! This was such a fun read.